The Man from Her Past
by Evelyn Carnahan-O'Connell
Summary: YAY FOR CHAPTERS 7 & 8! A man from Reba’s past shows up unexpectedly on Christmas Eve. How will it affect Reba and the ones she loves? What memories will it bring up in her? What memories will it make? Reviews appreciated...be gentle!
1. The Party

The Man from Her Past

Summary: A man from Reba's past shows up unexpectedly. How will it affect Reba and the ones she loves? What memories will it bring up in her? What memories will it make?

Disclaimer: I only own one character from this story and that's Bill. The rest are not mine.

Rating: Teen…maybe Mature later on, I'm not that far yet.

Chapter One: The Party

Reba awoke quickly to the sound of a loud crash and a shout from downstairs. She got up, putting a blue robe on over her pajamas and ran down to Van and Cheyenne's room to find it empty. Then to Kyra's room to find the same. Jake's room was empty too. She then ran down the stairs quickly and continued into the kitchen when she couldn't find anyone.

When she got into the kitchen she saw Van and Jake arguing with a pile of clattered dishes on the floor, next to the table. "What's goin' on?" she asked, walking over to them, looking at the pile of dishes. Van was quick to reply.

"It was all Jake!" he said, pointing and backing away. Jake pointed back at him.

"Was not! You were carrying all of them and wouldn't let me help."

"Yeah but you were the one that made me sneeze." Jake just looked at his mom.

"Ok guys; just help me clean it up." Luckily, not much was broken. "What were you guys doin' with the dishes anyways?"

Jake replied, "We all wanted to help you clean the house before the Christmas Eve party tonight. Van and I were trying to do some stuff with the house while Kyra and Cheyenne and Elizabeth went to the store to get some stuff off of that list that you made."

Reba set down the dishes in the sink that she was carrying and went to Jake. "Oh, thank you honey, that was very sweet." She leaned down and gave him a hug and kissed him on the head. When she stood back up, Van was standing there smiling, waiting for his hug. "Keep cleanin' cowboy." Reba said, and pointed to the few dishes that were left on the floor. Van looked a little sad, and kept cleaning. Reba went upstairs to take a shower. "When I come back down, I don't want to find anything else broken. Ok?"

"Don't worry mom, if Van messes anything else up, I'll make him clean under the sink where Dad made that big mess trying to fix it." Jake smiled and walked away. Van went after him, and Reba just laughed to herself and went upstairs.

When Reba came downstairs, Kyra, Cheyenne and Elizabeth were home, and the house looked spotless. "Wow, guys, ya'll did a really good job! I'm impressed. I should tell ya'll we're havin' a party more often."

Cheyenne walked up to Reba and said, "Yeah, don't get too carried away there, Mom. We're only doin' this once. If I have to clean anymore I think I'm gonna have a heart attack."

"Oh yeah, I'm sure that cleaning that one spot off of Van's shirt was _so_ hard." Kyra said as she walked by.

"Hey," Cheyenne said, following her, "it would've stained if I hadn't've gotten it off." Reba walked around, inspecting the house, and seeing that the kids really did do a good job. She walked into the kitchen to start cooking things for the party. She had just started cooking when all the kids came into the kitchen. "Ok, Mom. We're done." Cheyenne said.

"Great, you can help me cook now."

All of the kids protested and made up all kinds of different excuses to leave, and Reba was left alone. She smiled and continued on her cooking.

When Reba was done, she'd just carried the last of the food trays into the living room when she heard a knock on the door. She opened it and Brock, Barbra-Jean and Henry came in. "Hey guys."

"Hey Reba." Brock said as he went straight for the scotch. Reba looked at Barbra-Jean for an explanation. Barbra-Jean just shrugged and did her little 'yeah, whatever' thing and walked in. She put Henry down by Elizabeth and went to Brock.

The kids all walked in and everybody started eating.

A couple of hours later, Reba stood, drinking a Coca-Cola while she talked to Brock. Everybody else stood around talking to someone. Jake and Kyra were talking, while Barbara-Jean was talking to Van and Cheyenne. Henry and Elizabeth were sitting on the floor playing. Barbara-Jean being as scatter brained as she is stood up quickly and walked over to Brock. She whispered, "Did you bring them?"

"Bring what?" Brock whispered back, confused.

"The gifts." She whined.

"Oh, no. They're still at home."

Barbara-Jean sighed and said to everyone in the room, "Ok, nobody move! I got somethin' special for all of you." She took off out the door.

Reba turned to Brock and smiled as she said, "Is the 'somethin' special' her not comin' back?" Brock just gave her that look.

A few minutes later, Reba was facing Brock and the front door opened. She continued to talk, expecting it to be Barbara-Jean coming back. She was laughing at another crack she'd made about BJ when she turned to see Barbara-Jean. When she turned, her laugh and smile faded quickly. "Bill…."


	2. What Are You Doin' Here?

A/N: I realize that there is a character in Reba Season One named Bill (the plumber). This is NOT the same guy…just so everybody knows.

Chapter Two: What Are You Doin' Here?

Reba walked up to the person still standing in the entryway. She kept quiet so no one would hear and said sternly, "Bill, what are you doin' here?"

"I came to see you." He replied calmly.

"How'd you find where I live?" Reba asked as she shoved Bill out the front door and closed it behind them, leaving everyone in the house wondering.

"It's called a telephone book, Reba."

"You don't know my last name since I was married."

"Oh, yeah," he started with sarcasm, "and it's_ so_ hard to pick through all the 'Reba's' in Houston to figure out which one you are."

Reba sighed, "Look, I don't want you here alright? My life is goin' along fine without you in it! I don't need this right now."

"I see you still have that beautiful Oklahoman accent. I always did love your voice." He said after a slight pause, as an attempt to make conversation with her. She knew exactly what he was doing.

"Bill, stop tryin' to butter me up, ok? It didn't work then, it won't now."

"I know. But I promise I'm a changed man. Those classes the judge made me take while I was in prison really did somethin' for me."

Reba sat down on the bench. "Oh yeah, right." She replied simply, and looked away. Bill sat down next to her, attempting to get her to look at him.

"Look Reba, I can understand why you don't wanna have anything to do with me, but I promise you, it won't be like it was. It'll work this time, I promise." Reba automatically knew very well the last sentence he said.

"Bill, you said that every time. Why should I believe you now?"

"You just gotta have faith." She turned quickly to look at him but before she could say anything, he put his hands to her face and brought her in for a kiss. She turned her head just in time and he got her on the cheek. When he let go, she stood up.

"Just…stay outta my life, ok?" She then walked back through the front door and quickly locked it, just in case. She turned with her eyes closed and sighed. When she opened them, everyone was staring at her quizzically. She just put her hands up and quickly shook her head, basically saying "don't ask." She then walked to the kitchen. Everyone in the living room except Elizabeth and Henry, not knowing anything was going on, look at each other with wonder. Then everyone looked at Brock.

"Oh, alright." He said and went to the kitchen with Reba. When he walked in, Reba was downing a glass of white wine with the bottle on the counter.

Brock walked over next to Reba and put a hand on her back. She jumped at bit. "You ok?" he asked softly. Reba took a deep breath.

"Yeah." She sighed.

"'Cause I don't think you really are." There was silence for a couple of minutes. "Who was he?"

"No one."

"Seems like he was someone."

"He's just someone deep in my past and I plan on him stayin' there. I don't need you or anyone else tryin' to dig him back up!" she shouted and left through the back door after grabbing her purse.

At first Brock just let her go, thinking she needed some space. Then he looked at the counter and saw the half-gone bottle of wine she'd drank, and he knew she liked to drive when she was stressed. He quickly ran out the door after her before she could do anything regrettable.

When he got out the door, he saw her walking towards the car. "Reba! Wait!"

She heard him call out to her and thought about going on, but sighed and stopped anyways. She turned to see him running to her. "Reba, what are you doing? You know you can't drive, you've been drinking." He put his hands on her shoulders. "I don't want anything to happen to you." He stared deep into her eyes for a moment. And she stared in his, seeing the care for her. Brock then removed his hands. "I mean, for the kids' sake." He quickly covered.

She squinted her eyes at him with anger. "I wasn't gonna drive you mo-ron! I just needed some space from everyone so I was going to go for a walk. I think my Christmas Eve is ruined enough, I don't need anyone trying to make it worse." And with that, she turned and continued down the sidewalk.

Brock, still feeling uneasy, went back inside to let everyone know she just needed some time to herself. They all still worried that something may happen to her out there on the streets, or she may still harm her self, unintentionally or not. Brock tried to help the situation. "Guys, come on. We all know Reba. She'd never do anything to hurt us. She'll be fine." Everyone knew he was right. Reba wouldn't hurt her family by hurting herself. Still, they sat impatiently in the living room waiting for her to come back through the front door.


	3. A Walk to the Store

Chapter Three: A Walk to the Store

As Reba walked the empty streets of Houston, she spoke her thoughts quietly to herself. "How can he do this? How could he think that I'd want him to be back in my life after all he's put me through? Crazy…he's just crazy!" As she turned a corner around a building, she ran smack into someone and went stumbling across the sidewalk. They apologized at the same time then looked at each other. "Oh, Bill." She said, staring in consternation, still flustered.

"Reba, I've been meaning to speak with you."

"Sorry Bill, I really gotta get home. I was just my way back."

Bill looked around, "Uh, your house is that way." He said, as he pointed the way she was just coming from.

"I had to run to the store and get a couple of quick things."

"I'll walk you then." He offered his arm, but she only stood there. "Reba, I promise you, I mean you no harm, at all. I can understand why you're acting like this but please give me a chance. Please understand that I've changed." She thought for a few more moments then saw the trust in his eyes and decided to give him the chance he seemed to deserve. They walked down the street, speaking of all the good times they once had, long ago.

By the time they got to the store, they were having a wonderful time with each other. They walked up to the doors, still laughing. Reba sighed, "This has been fun, but I really should get done so I can go back home. I'm sure everyone's worried." She smiled and went to walk inside but he didn't unlock arms with her.

She turned around and he was centimeters from her face, ready to sneak a kiss. At first she leaned towards him, but then pulled back away, their arms still locked. "I'm sorry." She said. "I can't." She turned to walk away again but he pulled her back. "Bill, please. Don't make this harder than it already is." She turned again and he unlocked her arm. But she only found that he grabbed her upper arm instead and refused to let her go.

They had managed to make their way away from the store, and towards an old alley way that nobody entered anymore. "Bill, let go." Nothing. She repeated more sternly as they went down the alley. "Bill! Let go!" She jerked away but he wouldn't let go.

Finally, he lost his grip the next time she jerked away. He only lost it long enough to grab the gun from the back of his pants and shoot it into the sky. Reba cringed and stopped at the tremendous **_BANG!_** She now stood about three feet in front of him, her eyes squinted closed.

After what seemed like forever, Bill took Reba by the arm and led her away from the alley. "I'm sorry. I kinda lost it back there." He said calmly.

"Kinda? Are you kidding me?" She turned to face him, almost yelling in his face. He just stood calmly and listened. She wanted to tear his head off. Thinking of all the things he'd done. Showing up on Christmas Eve and ruining it all, upsetting Reba just by being there, disturbing her family, trying to manipulate her to be with him, then threatening her with a gun. She was ready to really chew him out good, but thought twice, now knowing that he had a gun and was more than wiling to use it. Still, she made her point. "You come back and ruin my life again! And you haven't even been here one day! And you threaten me. With a gun no less, where anyone could've seen you! What is the _matter_ with you!"

"I just wanted a second chance, Reba."

"Well, you're goin' about it all the wrong ways! Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going home!" She gave him no chance to stop her as she turned quick on her heels and took off towards home.

When Reba arrived home, she entered the kitchen door to find no one around. She hung her purse up and went to the fridge to find a quick snack. "Reba!" Reba jumped at the unexpected sound. She quickly turned to see Brock walking up to her, concerned. "Reba, where have you been? We were all really worried."

"Does it really matter where I've been? I'm home and I'm fine. Where is everyone else?"

"Barbara-Jean took Henry, Jake and Kyra to our house, Van and Cheyenne went looking for you and left Elizabeth here with me. Did you run into that guy again? Who was he anyways?"

"I already told you, he was nobody." Reba closed the fridge and walked towards the living room. Brock followed close behind, still waiting for answers.

"And I already told you, he seemed like somebody."

Reba walked to the front door, opened it and waved Brock out the door as she said, "Just go home Brock." He resisted.

"Reba," he said, taking hold of her shoulders and she shut the door, "I'm really worried about this. Please explain to me what's going on. Please?" Reba stood, looking into his eyes for a moment and sighed.

"Fine." They went to sit on the couch and Reba started her story…


	4. Stories Told & Memories Revealed

This chapter's really long but most of it's a flashback.

Chapter Four: Stories Told & Memories Revealed

"You remember me telling you about my sister Michelle right?" Reba started.

"Yes, of course. She had an accident and died." Brock replied.

"Not exactly. That's what they said at first. Later we found out that wasn't the exact story." Reba paused for a few seconds, remembering the past she had long ago put behind her.

"Go on." Brock encouraged, putting a comforting hand on her.

"Bill was married to Michelle for three years before she died. It was three years of undying love, so we thought. When Michelle died, everyone was distraught, of course. But Bill seemed to hurt the most. He spent a lot of time with the family tryin' to heal, and a lot of that time was spent with me. We were the two that hurt the most. Michelle was his wife, and my best friend. We did everything together. And when she died, it was only natural that we would spend all our time comforting each other.

"All that time eventually grew into a very close relationship. And before I knew it, we were engaged." Again, Reba paused. This time, she waited for a response from Brock.

"I…I thought you were never married before us." He said confused.

"Well, we never got to the wedding. Things went great…for a few months. Then he started actin' strange. He always did things with other people and told me to stay home. He never invited me anywhere when he would leave. And he stopped doin' things with me. He chose everyone else over me. I was like a last resort. And that hurt me, a lot. There would be times when I tried to fix the problem and I would say how I feel. He would say he felt the same way with me or that he thought I was angry with him so he was just 'giving me some space.' Which made no sense because I never gave any indication that I was ever angry with him. I never was. I figured if we were going to be married, we shouldn't be having problems like that. And you know me, always tryin' to fix problems, so I was always bringin' up the subject. Each time I did though, he got angrier.

"Why would he be angry?"

"I dunno. He just was. I guess he was annoyed with it. Anyways, about two months after the problems started, I brought it up once, for the millionth time, and that was it for him. He just couldn't take it anymore…

flashback

Bill was ready to head out, to wherever he went off to every Friday night. He had the keys and was headed for the front door, when Reba walked in. "Bill? Where are you goin'? I thought we were stayin' in tonight."

"Change of plans, Reba." He said, continuing for the door.

"Again? Bill, it's always a change of plans. Every time we have somethin' planned, you change them and I'm no longer involved." She sighed. "Darn you, Bill, I love you. You know that! But how do you expect me to marry someone I don't know anymore." With the last comment, Bill froze and turned to finally face Reba.

"Reba, I haven't changed any." He replied calmly.

"Haven't changed? We used to spend almost every minute together. Even when Michelle was alive, we always went out, just the three of us. But now you don't seem to wanna have anything to do with me. I'd say you've changed." Reba was very hurt and Bill could see it in her eyes. He walked over to her and took her hands in his.

"Reba, I'm sorry. I really am. It's just really hard for me to get over Michelle still. I guess it's a little easier when I'm not around her sister all the time." He pulled Reba into a hug as she replied.

"Oh honey. I know it's hard for you. But it's just as hard for me. I lost my best friend as well as a sister." Their eyes met as they pulled out of the hug. Then bill sighed.

"Well," he said quickly, "nutin' we can do about it. I'm goin' out. I'll see you when I get home." He left Reba and headed back out the front door. Reba stood for a couple of seconds, stunned, staring at him.

"Wait – wait a minute. What about all the things we just said?" she asked, quite confused.

"What about 'em?"

"Didn't they mean anything? I just said some very important things to you! Did they even mean anything?"

"Sure they did. And now we're on to something else. End of conversation." He now opened the front door, but Reba refused to let him leave.

"Wait a minute, just wait. You can't just look over Michelle's death like that!"

"Yes I can."

"Bill, she was your wife! You cain't hide from it! It may seem easy to hide now, but later it'll just come back and bother you." Bill stood in the doorway, looking at Reba walking towards him.

"I'm not hiding from anything, Reba."

"How can you say that? That's all you've been doing for the past two months. We're supposed to be getting married next month, remember?"

"Yes, I remember –"

"Well then I think we need to get it together a little. I'm to the point to where I'm seriously considering waiting a few more months.

"What?" He seemed hurt, as well as a bit angered, but Reba didn't stop to notice.

"You heard me. I can't get married in this situation."

"What do you mean by 'situation'?" He walked back in towards her, slamming the front door shut, causing Reba to give a slight jump.

"You know exactly what I mean, Bill." She replied as she spun around and walked to the couch. "It just isn't right."

"Well, whether it feels right or not, it could always be a worse situation. Just keep that in mind." Reba kept a hard stare on him, trying to figure out exactly what he meant by that.

"What is that supposed to mean?" she asked finally.

"Oh, I think you know what it means." He gave a cold stare.

"No, as a matter of fact, I don't. But please, feel free to explain!"

"Let's just say it wasn't all Michelle's fault she died." Reba was a little shocked and confused. She couldn't figure out what he meant exactly but couldn't take any more. She got up from the couch and went to the kitchen. She grabbed the dirty oven sheet from the stove and started scrubbing it clean, thinking. After a few seconds, she finally shouted to Bill, still in the living room.

"What are you saying? What happened to Michelle?" Bill walked in.

"Forget I said it." He quickly replied, waving a hand at her. He walked over to Reba's purse on the kitchen table and opened it. At first, Reba just watched, but when he got to her wallet and started pulling out bills, she intervened.

"I'm not gonna forget it, Bill!" Reba waited for a response but when Bill just moved around her and took more money, Reba got fed up and walked in front of him again, taking the money back. "And what are you taking _my_ money for? You have your own."

"I just need a few dollars, Reba." He replied simply and reached for the money. She pulled it away.

"Use your own then if it's not that much. We ain't married, my money is mine and mine alone, thank you." She put the bills back in her purse.

"We may not be married, but we will be very soon! So you better get used to the idea." He took the bills back out and started to leave. Reba didn't like the tone he had or what he had just done.

"Excuse me? We are not getting married that soon and if things continue on like this, we won't be getting married at all! You keep _that _in mind!" She pulled the money back from him. She now realized he pulled out a little more than 'a few dollars.' She counted sixty. "And this is a little more than a few!" She took the money and put it all in her shirt.

"Oh," he scoffed, "don't think for a second I won't go and get that back."

"You had better not!" She moved away a little. When he went for her she moved. He didn't try again.

"Reba, don't make this difficult! You're startin' to act just like Michelle did."

"What are you talkin' about! Why do you keep bringin' Michelle into this?"

"Don't worry about it!" He jumped on her and they both fell to the ground. There was a slight struggle for a few moments until Bill got fed up with it and ripped Reba's shirt to get to the money which then fell on the floor. He took the money and stood up while Reba stayed on the floor, out of breath, still taken aback by what had just happened. Bill just shook it off and started to walk away.

Before he got to the door, Reba showed up in front of him, hand open, expecting her money. Bill just took her by the shoulders, moved her out of his way and took off out the door. Reba stood, her eyes wide, scared and innocent, waiting for something to happen. When nothing did, she finally moved to the living room and watched for the car to pull out. But it never did. She waited for at least five minutes before she heard something, the back door. 'Why is he coming back?' she wondered. When she turned, she froze.

Reba saw Bill holding a rope and some phone wire, along with a few other objects piled in his arms. "Bill? What – what is that for? What're you doin'?" No response ever came. All he did was drop it all on the floor and walk back out. She stood, looking at all the things he had dropped, confused.

She heard him come back and saw a long stick, which looked to be the handle of a broom stick or something similar. Reba continued to stand and stare. He looked down at the pile on the floor and reached for the rope. He took both ends and tossed the rope around Reba and pulled her to him. Still confused, she went towards him.

As soon as she got within arms length of him, he pulled a fast one and took the rope to her neck. Not enough to kill her, just to choke her a little. He said something but Reba was too panicked to hear anything. And the more she fought him, the more he choked her. Finally he let go and again she fell to the floor. He threw the rope and grabbed the stick. He jumped on her holding the stick down across her throat. She put her hands on it and pushed back. They struggled for a while, rolling to various places on the floor before she finally kneed him in the stomach. This gave her time to get up and figure out what to do.

Before she could, Bill had hold of the wire and grabbed Reba around the upper arms from behind. He spun her around and put her against a wall. He grabbed her hands and tied them together with the wire. She fought him but it just wasn't enough. He let go and she fell, now sitting on the ground, in tears, trying to get the wire off, failing. Bill, standing above her said, "Funny. This is almost what Michelle looked like before she died." Reba froze and looked up at him.

"What?" she asked, almost threateningly.

"Yeah, about that, I got a little somethin' to tell ya. You know that 'accident'? I was that accident!" His eyes glowed with evil. Instant tears filled Reba's eyes.

"You – you killed her!"

"That's not all I did."

"You…you bastard!" Reba got to her feet and jumped on his back. She put her tied hands around his neck and started choking him with the wire between her hands. Suddenly, he slammed her into a wall, knocking her off of him back onto the floor. She was a bit stunned from the smack to the back of her head.

Bill grabbed her hair and pulled her to her knees, facing him. He pulled a knife from his back and held it for her to see. He scraped the edge along her face and down her neck, collarbone and then back to her neck. She was too scared to move and had a few tears running down her face. He pulled the knife across a small part of her throat enough to break the skin and draw a little blood. She screamed mostly in fear but a little bit in pain as well. He then took the butt of the knife to the side of her head, drawing more blood.

She lay on the floor, still conscious but only just. She saw his feet move away and heard the front door shut. She gave all she left to stay awake long enough to hear his car pull out of the driveway, and then she was out.

When Reba awoke, she was still on the floor and Bill was still gone. She looked around and found the knife on the table across the room, her blood still on it. Remembering the blood, she reached up to her neck and felt blood all down the front of her shirt and on her neck, with a little bit going down the side of her face. She slowly got up and steadied herself against the wall. She made her way to the table, reached for the knife and started cutting the wire which still held her wrists together.

As soon as she was freed of the wires that had left deep cuts on her, she knew she had to leave. This man had killed her sister and God knows what else he did to her. And then tried to kill Reba, for no apparent reason. She ran through the house grabbing everything she needed. She happened to run past a mirror and stopped to look. She couldn't leave like this. Blood everywhere and marks all along her throat. No chance. She changed her bloody clothes and scrubbed the dried blood off of her skin.

She had everything she needed, so she headed for the door. Right before she got there, she realized she didn't have her car keys. She searched through her purse and pockets, still nothing. She figured she didn't need to drive; she could walk, or run for that matter, just as easily.

She opened the front door to leave and jumped and screamed, dropping everything. She stared at the person who was staring back, holding up her keys. "Looking for these?" Bill asked and smacked them across her face. She spun and full grabbing the arm of the couch. "Yep. Michelle tried to leave too. And you see where it got her. I wouldn't suggest it, Reba. Not a smart decision." She looked up at Bill, scared to move, or talk.

He continued on talking about all the things he had done to Michelle before killing her. Reba just listened, crying for her sister. When Bill was done, he crouched down in front of her and asked, "So, what do ya think about _that_?"

"What do I think? What do I think! You abused by sister in almost every way possible! And then murdered her! Lied to me and my family about it to get close to me to do the exact same thing! What am I supposed to think?"

"You're supposed to think that you believe with the right amount of love and comforting from a woman like you, that I can be a changed man. You're supposed to think that you'll always be there with me until your death."

"Which with you," she pulled the knife from her shoe behind her that Bill couldn't see, "wouldn't take very **_long!_**" On her last word, she lunged at him, putting the knife through his upper stomach. She didn't by any means want to kill him, but she was desperate to get away. She grabbed her keys from the floor, got her things back that she'd dropped and headed out the door.

She got in her car; drove away and never looked back.

end flashback


	5. Help

**Chapter Five: Help**

Reba finished her story, crying. Brock was still shocked out of his mind. He couldn't stand knowing Reba was ever treated like that. "Reba, I'm so sorry." He offered a hug and she accepted it, burying herself into his chest, letting everything out.

At the same time, Van and Cheyenne walked in, still not knowing where Reba was or that she was even found. They walked in and as soon as they saw Reba, they were relieved. But when they realized something was wrong they panicked. "Mom, what's wrong? Are you ok?" Cheyenne went to Reba and placed a hand on her back.

"Mr. H, what happened?"

Brock looked at Reba, who was wiping her eyes. "You want me to tell them?" he asked. Reba nodded her head.

"Yeah, they should know. I need go upstairs and be alone for a while anyways." Reba stood up and went to her room to lie down.

Downstairs, Brock was explaining everything to Van and Cheyenne. When he was done, they were both in shock. "So, aunt Michelle was – was murdered? And Mom was almost murdered! And the guy that showed up at our Christmas Eve party did it? Oh my God!" Cheyenne didn't know how to react, and Van just sat there, holding her hand, still staring at Brock. "I gotta go talk to her."

"Cheyenne, she might need sometime alone right now." Brock said.

"I have to." She got up, and walked up to Reba's room.

"Mr. H, how come Mrs. H never told anybody, even you? This is serious stuff." Van was still a little confused.

"I dunno. I guess she just wanted to leave it in the past. I think, that when something this big and that bad happens to someone, they want to believe that it didn't happen. Or they think that if they tell anybody, that they'll think differently about them."

"You think she'll be ok? I mean, what if this guy comes back? He's already been here once."

"And she ran into him again while she was gone. I don't know what happened, but I plan on finding out. If he did anything, Lord help me."

Upstairs, Cheyenne knocked on her mother's bedroom door, only to hear stifled cries inside. "Mom? Can I come in? Please?"

"Yeah, go ahead." Reba replied quietly. When Cheyenne came in, she saw Reba sitting in the corner of the bed with her knees drawn up to her chest. Reba didn't bother looking over at Cheyenne.

"Mom, why didn't you tell us?" Reba wouldn't reply so Cheyenne went over and sat next to her, putting an arm around her back, and her other hand on Reba's arm. "It's ok."

"I just didn't want you all to worry about yourselves or about me. If you knew he was still around, I didn't want you to think he'd come back. I didn't think he would. Guess I was wrong." Reba leaned into Cheyenne for a hug and Cheyenne gladly gave one to her.

"Mom, you shouldn't worry about us. But now that he _is_ back, we need to keep an eye out. For everyone, especially for you."

"I'm just worried about you guys. If he comes back and can't find me, he'll go after ya'll. I can't do anything but wait and see if he shows up."

"Don't worry, Mom. We'll think of something. Come on, let's go back downstairs." Cheyenne got up and offered Reba a hand, who took it. As they went back downstairs, Van and Brock looked at them. Van got up and went to Reba to give her a hug. Reba accepted.

"Thanks, Van." They all went to the couch and sat down, Cheyenne never letting go of Reba's hand. They talked about it a while longer, and Reba told them what happened while she was out. Brock wasn't happy about it, but remained calm and continued to listen.

A few minutes later, the front door burst open. Everyone turned quickly to see who it was. They turned to see Barbra-Jean running in the door with all the kids. "Reba!" she shouted, as she put Henry down and ran to Reba, hugging her. "Oh, Reba you're ok!"

"Barbra-Jean – Barbra-Jean, I can't breathe."

"Oh, sorry." she said, as she let Reba go.

"Thank you." she sighed. Brock figured that Reba had had enough talk about the subject tonight.

"Barbra-Jean, Reba's fine. We should go and give her some time to herself." Brock walked over and took Barbra-Jean's hand and led her and Henry out the door. He took them home and explained things to Barbra-Jean.

Reba made it through the rest of the day pretty well, considering what had happened that day.

The next morning, Reba was awoken by her son running into her room and jumping on her bed, jumping up and down. "Mom! Mom wake up, it's Christmas!" As soon as he saw that she was awake, he ran into everyone else's room, waking them up as well.

They all went downstairs and started opening presents. Soon after, Brock, Barbra-Jean and Henry came over, and more gifts were opened. All the kids were now playing with their new gifts, and the adults were cleaning up all the wrapping paper off of the floor. "So, Reba, what are your plans for today?" Brock asked before they left.

"I'll probably just stay home with the kids. I'm sure they'll be busy playing all their new games all day anyways. I'll find something to do." Just then, Jake and Kyra walked down from their rooms.

"Hey, are you guys going home?" Kyra asked.

"Yeah." Brock answered. Kyra looked at her mom.

"Can Jake and I go with them today, Mom?"

"Sure honey. It's fine with me if it's fine with them."

"Of course it's ok with us!" Barbra-Jean answered, smiling.

"Ok, thanks Mom. We'll be back for dinner."

"Ok, bye. Have a good time!" Reba gave Jake and Kyra a hug before they left, and then decided to go shower and get ready for the day. As she walked downstairs, she noticed it was fairly quiet in the house. She'd expected to hear Cheyenne and Van playing with Elizabeth. Or at least hear Van playing with Elizabeth's toys. When she got to the bottom of the stairs, she saw why there was now noise. Bill was sitting on the couch, talking to Van and Cheyenne.

Before Reba could go back upstairs, it was too late. Bill turned around, "Reba!" he said. She turned back towards them and walked over to the chair by the couch.

"Hey, Bill. What are you doin' here?" she asked as she sat down.

"I was just comin' over to wish you and yours a merry Christmas."

"Well, thank you Bill, we appreciate it." Reba got up and started walking towards the kitchen. "I'm sorry, I know you just got here, but I've got a lot of work to do today, if you don't mind."

"Come on, Reba, it's Christmas. Nobody works on Christmas." he said, following her into the kitchen.

"I didn't say I was goin' to work, I said I had a lot of work to get done, as in here at the house." As she spoke, she was doing little chores around the room. Bill was watching her every move.

"Ok. Ok, fine. Can I come back tomorrow then?"

Reba stopped her work and looked at him. "Bill, why do you insist so hard on being back in my life? You know I'm not gonna come back to you."

"I know. I just want to get to know you again. I haven't seen you in years, Reba."

"After what you did, why do you think I should give you another chance?"

"Because, I told you. I'm a changed man! I got the help I needed, and now I'm a different person." He was slowly walking towards her. She caught on and walked around to the other side of the kitchen. She was now standing close to the living room entryway.

"'A different person'? I don't think so. What about what happened in town yesterday? That's the same Bill that I knew years ago. You're still that same person, Bill. You'll never be able to change that, not in my book, so stop tryin'." Reba then went into the living room, where Van and Cheyenne started listening to their conversation. Elizabeth stood watching from her playpen, holding one of her new toys. Reba was about ready to go upstairs when Bill said,

"Reba, stop!" She sighed and turned to face him. "Would you just stop? I'm trying to do some good here!" Bill walked over and stood in front of the couch, between it and the chair by Elizabeth's playpen. Van and Cheyenne were now sitting in the chair by the kitchen window.

"'Tryin' to do some good'?" Reba walked over in front of the couch on Van and Cheyenne's side. "If you were really tryin' to do some good, you'd leave and never come back! But all you wanna do is good for yourself, 'cause that's all you care about!"

"Reba! Are you listening to anything I'm saying? I'm trying to say that I'm sorry! And I want another chance just to know you. I feel horrible about everything that I did. But that was a long time ago, and I think I deserve another shot."

"Bill, even though it was a long time ago, it still happened. And I know you're sorry, but I've been hurt a lot in my life." As Reba spoke, she slowly walked towards him. "And to be hurt that bad, that many times, sorry just doesn't cut it."

Before she could say anymore, Bill just rolled his eyes and took his fist to her face, thinking it was a good way to shut her up. Reba fell to the ground, instantly unconscious from the hard blow. Elizabeth didn't really understand what was going on, but didn't like it and started crying. Van and Cheyenne got up to run to Reba, but they suddenly stopped as they saw Bill's gun pointed at them. "You." Bill pointed the gun to Cheyenne and waved her towards Reba, then kept the gun on Van.

Cheyenne ran to Reba and held her head, placing a hand on her face. She was almost in tears. "Mom! Mom, please wake up!" She knew she wouldn't wake up, but continued to hold her. Bill walked over towards Reba and Cheyenne. He grabbed Cheyenne's arm, pulling her up, then he picked Reba up and threw her over his shoulder, the whole time keeping the gun on Van. Elizabeth was still crying in the background.

"You stay here." Bill said to Van. "Move and I'll shoot her." Bill then moved the gun towards Cheyenne, who was crying. When Bill got out the door with everyone, Van went to the window, to see him throw Reba in the back of his car, put Cheyenne in after her, and drive away. Van then ran to Elizabeth and got her to stop crying. He picked up the phone and dialed Brock and Barbra-Jean's.

"Hello?" Kyra answered.

"Kyra? Kyra put Mr. H on the phone, now!" he shouted.

"Ok, ok hold your horses. Dad!"

After a few seconds, Brock picked up. "Hello?"

"Mr. H! Mr. H we got trouble!"

"Whoa, Van. Calm down, what are you talkin' about?"

"Bill came back. He knocked Mrs. H out cold then held us at gunpoint and took Reba and Cheyenne."

"What! I'll be right over!" Brock hung up quickly. "Barbra-Jean, I need you to stay here with the kids, we've got trouble."

"What? Brock, what's goin' on?" Barbra-Jean asked, quite confused.

"Honey, I'm sorry I don't have time to explain right now, I'll talk to you later." Brock took off out the door, down to Reba's house.

A/N: I'm so sorry about the cliffy! But this is as far as I've gotten so far and now that school's started I'm gonna have to slow down on my writing because I don't have much extra time anymore. But I promise I'll work on it as much as I can and post as soon as possible. I'm just letting you guys know, it may be a bit because I've gotta come up with the rest and get the time to write it all. Thanks for the reviews! They really keep me going! 


	6. Get Them Back Alive

**Chapter Six: Get Them Back Alive**

When Reba woke up, it took her a while to completely come to and realize she didn't know where she was. Once she did realize that, she panicked, and tried to get up. It was then she realized that she couldn't move. She looked around and found she was tied to four corners of a full size bed. She fought the ropes for a while before giving up. She now lay there crying from the panic. All she could think about was if her family was safe and what Bill was up to.

Back at Reba's house, Brock had just busted through the door to find Van sill holding Elizabeth and he could tell that Van was almost in tears. "Van! Van what happened?" he asked panicked and out of breath from the run.

"Mr. H, it was horrible! Bill and Mrs. H were talkin' and kinda got into an argument and Bill punched her! She was knocked out instantly and then he held me and Cheyenne at gunpoint and walked out with both of 'em. Oh, man, what are we gonna do, Mr. H? What are we gonna do!" Van paced back and forth across the living room the entire time he was talking, and Elizabeth was starting to doze off in his arms.

"Van, just calm down alright!" Brock went up to Van, grabbing his shoulders making him stand still. "Calm…down, ok? Breathe." They both took a deep breath and Van was starting to calm down. "We gotta be able to think clearly, alright? Now where could he have taken them?"

"Uh…uh, I dunno! Wait! While he was talking to us, he said something about houses." Van stopped, and didn't say anymore.

"What else!"

"Oh, he said that it took him forever to find one but he finally found one around…uh…uh…" Brock moved his arms, trying to get Van to think quicker. "Lincoln Drive, Lincoln Drive! He said it was a 'beautiful Victorian home'." Van mocked Bill as he said it. "Where a scumbag like that gets enough money for a Victorian is beyond me! Unless…"

"He stole it." Brock finished for him. 

"Great, now we're dealing with an abusive husband, a murderer, a kidnapper, and a money thief! Is there anything this guy hasn't done!" Van shouted in a whisper as not to wake Elizabeth now completely asleep in his arms.

"I wouldn't put anything past him, I have a feeling this guy will do anything to get what he wants. We gotta get to that house though! Come on, we'll drop Elizabeth off with Barbra-Jean and then we'll go find that house!"

Van and Brock headed out the door, preparing themselves for anything that could lie ahead.

Reba was still crying on the bed, when someone opened the door to the room. For a moment, she thought no one was coming in, but all of a sudden she saw Cheyenne fall into the room and land on the floor. She was crying as well. "Cheyenne!"

"Mom!" Cheyenne got up and ran to her mother, hugging her, the best she could. "Oh, Mom!"

"Cheyenne, everything's gonna be ok, alright! Don't worry!"

"But, Mom –"

"GET OUT!" Both women jumped at the sound of Bill's voice at the door. Cheyenne, looked at him, and then looked at her mother, not knowing what to do. Bill walked over to her, grabbing her hair and stabbing a gun into her side. He led to out the door as she screamed for her mother to help. All Reba could do was lay there and cry while screaming at Bill to stop.

All Reba heard was Cheyenne screaming getting quieter as she moved further away from the room. Then a single gunshot was heard and Reba silenced herself, listening for Cheyenne, but her screaming had stopped as well. Reba then heard a thud and footsteps getting louder.

Reba prayed that she would see Cheyenne walk through that door not Bill. If Bill walked through it, that meant that Cheyenne was shot and possible dead! She couldn't handle that. It seemed like forever before the footsteps approached the door. She stopped breathing, waiting and waiting for someone to walk in.

When Reba saw Bill walk though the door, gun still in hand, she screamed in sadness and anger. Bill slowly walked over to her as she struggled against her restraints, screaming wildly. "Damn it, woman, shut up already!" Bill screamed and put the gun to her face.

Reba instantly stopped. "What'd you do to my daughter!" she screamed at him in anger.

"That's not important! What's important now is that I've finally got you where I want you! Right here, in my house, right here," he moved a little closer to her, putting his gun away, "in my bedroom," he brushed a hand across her cheek and she turned away, "and what do ya know, tied up in my bed." Bill was now lying on his side, next to Reba, looking her in the face. Reba was disgusted and continued to look away, and he could see tear marks still on her face. "It's ok, Reba. I promise. Look."

Reba turned her head, and saw that Bill was throwing his gun down to the floor. She felt a little better, but still couldn't get out of the ropes. Bill then returned his hand to her face, first lightly rubbing it, then cupping her face, and going in for a kiss as he moved a little bit over her. His thumb brushed over the bruise on her face from where he punched her earlier and she cried out, wincing as another tear came from her eye.

"Oh, Honey, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have hit you back there, I'm sorry."

"Yeah, right." Reba said quietly, but loud enough he would hear it. Bill stopped, and looked into her eyes with anger and hatred. She continued anyways, "You aren't sorry for _anything_! And you never were! You weren't sorry for murdering my sister, or for the way you treated me! You may have tricked yourself into thinkin' you're a different person since prison, but you'll _never_ trick me. Not again. Not like you did after Michelle died! Now, get _off me_!"

Reba jolted her body the best she could, trying to flip him off of her and onto the floor. He almost fell off the bed but grabbed onto her arm to hold him up. His grip and the weight of his body pulling on her arm, made the ropes pull and dig into her wrist. She screamed in pain as he pulled himself back on top of her.

Bill sat up, straddling her and slapped her hard across the face on the same side she already had the bruise on. She shouted out, now fully crying, not just from the pain, but because she knew she wouldn't be able to beat him, especially tied up like she was. She was so scared of what was coming, or the fact that she didn't know what was coming.

Brock and Van had dropped Elizabeth off with Barbra-Jean and were now headed down Lincoln Drive, looking for the Victorian house. Once they found it, they rushed to the front door, but Brock stopped before they did anything. "Wait, Van! We shouldn't go in the front door! We gotta sneak in somewhere so we're unexpected. The element of surprise is a wonderful thing!" Brock ran around to the side of the house and Van followed.

They reached a window that was barely cracked open. Van took a quick look inside to make sure no one was around, and then opened the window enough so they could crawl in. Once they were inside, they listened for any sign of where the women would be. When they heard nothing, they decided to head up the stairs and start checking bedrooms.

Bill had gotten tired of hearing Reba's distress and now had his hand over her mouth. As he whispered more angry threats into her ear, she started crying even more. Right as Bill was about to move his hand to kiss her, she threw her head forward into his, causing him to sit back up. Once he'd gotten over the pain and shock of her bravery, he put his hand on her throat but didn't put on much pressure.

Reba could see a level of anger in his eyes that she'd never seen before. In fact, she thought that maybe some of it wasn't anger. She didn't know what it was, but she didn't like it. She was really scared, but was trying not to show it.

"I was gonna try to be nice to you about this, Reba! But now, I don't think I should be!" As Bill spoke, he was getting angrier; he put more pressure on Reba's throat and started shaking her. She tried to shout and stop him, but she couldn't, she was struggling enough just trying to breathe.

When Bill was through yelling at her, he let go of her throat and just sat on top of her. She started hyperventilating from trying to get her breath back so quick and from being so scared.

"Reba, calm down, you'll heart yourself. Here, let me help calm you down!" Bill leaned down and kissed her cheek. He started kissing down her neck to her chest. Reba didn't like anything about this awkward moment, and tried to stop it. She jolted her body again, making him flip off of her yet another time. When he got back up off of the floor, he jumped on her, his weigh holding her down and he ripped her shirt wide open and started kissing her now bare chest.

Bill made sure to keep his weight down on her so she couldn't flip him again. "Bill, stop. Bill, stop it!" Reba screamed at him. But it didn't do any good. When Bill started kissing his way down her stomach, she started screaming loudly, doing everything she could to try to get him off, but nothing worked. His hands were on her blue jeans and he started taking her belt off. She continued screaming.

Halfway up the stairs, Brock and Van heard her screams and started running towards them. When they found the room Bill and Reba were in, they burst in, horrified at the scene in front of them. Bill hadn't noticed them enter, so Van ran up behind him and pulled him off of Reba, throwing him across the room. Brock went over to Reba, taking the ropes off of her wrists and ankles. He then gave her his jacket to put on and he helped her stand up and get off the bed.

Van and Bill were continuing their fight across the room, and Reba noticed the gun still on the floor from when Bill threw it down. She grabbed it and aimed at the struggle. "Hey!" she shouted, and the struggle stopped as Van and Bill looked up at Reba. Van slowly moved to the side, and Bill started at Reba, knowing she wouldn't shoot him.

Bill slowly got up and walked towards Reba cautiously. "Reba, you know you're not gonna shoot me. Now put the gun down." He had reached arms distance of the gun and slowly moved his hand up to point the fun down. The gun was now pointed to the floor and Bill was approaching Reba.

Before Bill could get too close, Brock, standing next to Reba, grabbed the gun from Reba's hands and pointed it towards Bill, pulling the trigger. Reba turned and buried her face into Brock's shoulder, not being able to look at someone being shot and killed.

Bill backed up, putting his hand up to his chest, the looking at it and seeing only blood. He smiled, and laughed slightly before falling back, eyes wide, dead on the floor. Reba's head was still buried in Brock's shoulder and she was still crying.

Van walked over, putting a comforting hand on Reba's back. She jumped and turned around to face him. "Mrs. H, are you ok?"

"Yes, Van. Thank you." she replied.

"Ok, now where's Cheyenne?" Van asked, scared for his wife. Reba automatically got tears in her eyes, but couldn't say anything. "What? Mrs. H, please, where is she!"

"Uh, I dunno. He drug her out of the room and down the hall. And then…" Reba couldn't bring herself to continue.

"Go on, Reba. It's ok. We need to know where Cheyenne is." Brock comforted her, encouraging her to continue.

"She was screaming." Reba started crying as she continued. "Then…I heard a gunshot, and she wasn't screaming anymore! Oh, Brock! What if she's dead? What if he murdered our daughter!" Reba threw her arms around Brock and almost passed out. Brock caught her and tried to steady her, but she passed out anyways. Brock picked her up and carried her, following Van as he ran down the hallway searching for his wife.

"Cheyenne! Cheyenne where are you!" Van was panicking as he frantically searched every room he passed. He found a bullet hole in the wall and was relieved for a moment, thinking that the gunshot Reba heard, didn't hit Cheyenne. He ran to the only door he hadn't checked and when he opened it, he found Cheyenne lying on the floor. He didn't see any blood, but he ran over to her a checked just to make sure.

There was no blood, but she wasn't awake. Van took her hand and tried to wake her up. He checked to see if she was breathing and she was, but only just. He found her pulse and it seemed fine. He just needed to wake her up. "Cheyenne. Cheyenne please wake up!" Van rubbed her arm and gently shook her. When she started to move, he gave a shout of relief. She woke up and looked up at Van. At first, she panicked, not realizing who it was. "No, no, no. Cheyenne, it's me, Van. It's ok. Come here." He held his arms out and she threw herself into them, crying into his chest, so happy that she was saved.

After Van and Cheyenne's moment, she looked over to her father, who was still holding Reba. "Oh my God, Mom!" Cheyenne got up quickly and rushed over to Brock, thinking her mother was really hurt, or worse, dead. 

"Cheyenne, she's ok." Brock said. "She just passed out after seeing Bill die." 

"He's dead? You killed him?" Cheyenne was shocked that Brock would actually kill someone.

"He went after your mother, of course I killed him. And he was going to kill all of us, so it was self-defense!" Brock replied.

"Well, are you sure he's dead? I mean, what if he's gotten away?" Cheyenne was panicking and Van saw this so he came up and put his arms around her for comfort.

"He won't be coming back. I shot him…in the chest." Cheyenne was stunned. Her father shot somebody? She almost couldn't believe it. But then again, she was happy that everyone was safe. "Come on, we gotta get outta here and make sure your mother's ok. Let's go." Brock led the way to the car.

Before they got to the car, Van asked, "Cheyenne? Are you ok? I mean, he didn't do anything to you…did he?"

"I'm ok. I'm just worried about Mom. I don't know what he did to her, and I'm scared." Cheyenne put her head down on Van's shoulder and cried silently.

"I'm sure she's fine. She knows how to take care of herself." Van wrapped his arm around her and held her close the whole way to the car.

Once at the car, Brock carefully laid Reba in the back seat and Cheyenne sat back there with her. Van got in the passenger seat and Brock drove. They headed back to Reba's house, hoping she would soon wake up and explain what happened, and make sure that she was ok.


	7. Aftershocks

Yay! I finally got around to getting some more written. And sorry it's been so long, but I get really busy. I love writing this stuff SOOOOOO much, but hardly have the time to do it. Especially now that I've started another show. I'm doing a Shakespeare play called Love's Labour's Lost. It's pretty cool! But, I'll always find time somewhere to write though, I promise. Hope you enjoy!

**Chapter Seven: Aftershocks **

As they pulled into Reba's driveway, Barbra-Jean came running out to meet them. "Brock! Is everything ok?" she yelled frantically as she approached the car.

"BJ, I thought you were at the house. Why'd you come over here?" Brock asked in response.

"It's fine, the kids are here with me, now where's Reba?!" Barbra-Jean was desperately attempting to get to the car to find her friend.

"Barbra-Jean," Cheyenne started as she got out of the back seat of the car, "Mom's fine. We just need to get her up to her bed to let her rest."

They all finally got inside, and Brock carried Reba upstairs to her room. As he was putting her down on the bed, she awoke, a bit startled at first. "Whoa, Reba, it's okay. You're safe in your room at home. Everything's okay." Brock attempted to soothe her as he pulled the covers over her.

"Where's Cheyenne?" Reba asked, still worried for her daughter's safety. 

"She's fine, Reba. Just relax. She's downstairs with everyone else. They're all just worried about you. Now, Reba, please tell me what happened. What all did Bill do? I need to know."

"Brock, I'm fine. I just want to see Cheyenne!" Reba tried to get up to head downstairs to see her daughter, but Brock wouldn't let her get up.

"Reba! You need to stay here. I'll go get Cheyenne and bring her up here as soon as you tell me what Bill did." Reba looked a little nervous still, and Brock put his hand on her cheek, looking deep into her eyes. "Please, Reba." Reba knew she was too exhausted to get up and go anywhere, so she lied back down. Once she was comfortable, she pulled the collar of her shirt down to reveal the marks on her throat from when Bill had her by the neck.

Brock was shocked at the discolorations on her skin. "Oh, Reba." He moved to lightly touch her neck, but she moved away before he could.

"Don't. It still hurts too much. Now will you go get Cheyenne?" Reba was getting restless and Brock knew the only way she would eventually rest is if she saw with her own eyes that Cheyenne was safe.

"Is that all you have to tell me?"

"Yes! Now let me see my daughter!" Brock put his hand on hers as he got up. He then slid away from her and went out the bedroom door. A few moments later, he returned with Cheyenne following. As soon as Cheyenne entered, she ran to hug her mother.

"Mom! I was so worried."

"So was I. You have no idea." Reba hugged Cheyenne back so forcefully that Cheyenne couldn't have moved if she wanted to. The two stayed in that position for a few minutes before Cheyenne finally got up.

"Are you okay, Mom? Did Bill hurt you?"

"No, Honey, I'm fine. Don't worry about me. Go ahead and go back to Van and Elizabeth." Reba gave Cheyenne a smile, and the cue to give her and her father a minute alone. Once Cheyenne had walked out, Reba said, "Brock. I know this may be completely out of the question, but would you be willing to maybe stay here tonight? I don't by any means want to take you away from your family, but I would feel so much better you were in the house. I mean, I know Bill's dead, but I would just feel a lot better."

Before Reba could ramble any more, Brock replied, "Of course. Don't worry about BJ and Henry. They'll be fine. I'll stay here with you. I'll sleep on the couch and come in to check on you every now and then."

"Thank you. I hate asking so much but –"

"Reba, don't worry about it. Just rest, okay?" Reba just smiled in reply. Brock then left Reba to her much needed rest, and went back downstairs. When he got to the living room, he approached Barbra-Jean first. "Barbra-Jean, can I see you in the kitchen please?" Barbra-Jean put Henry down with Elizabeth and followed Brock to the kitchen.

"What is it, Honey?" she asked quickly, thinking something was wrong with Reba.

"Well, Reba's asked me to stay here tonight. She doesn't quite feel safe enough to stay by herself with just the kids. I told her I'd stay with her." Brock stopped here, waiting for a reaction from Barbra-Jean, not knowing what to expect.

"Well, of course you can stay here. Whatever will help Reba. Henry and I will be fine at the house." Barbra-Jean gave Brock a quick kiss on the cheek before returning to the living room. Brock thought it a bit odd that Barbra-Jean was that easy-going about it, but then thought that she'd do anything for Reba.

Brock walked back into the living room and realized that evening had already passed and night was approaching. Barbra-Jean and Henry were getting ready to leave, and Van, Cheyenne and Kyra had already headed upstairs to bed. Before Barbra-Jean and Henry headed out, Brock said, "Thanks BJ, for caring so much."

"Just make sure she's alright, okay?"

"She'll be fine. I'll see you tomorrow, okay, Honey?"

"Okay. Say good-night, Henry." Barbra-Jean told as she held Henry.

"Night, Daddy!"

"Night, Bud. I love you guys."

"Love you, too." Barbra-Jean and Henry replied together. They then walked out the door and headed home to bed themselves. After shutting and locking the door, Brock turned and headed for the couch. He grabbed one of the blankets on the arm of the love seat and curled up under it, turning the TV on.


	8. Nightmares and Old Times

ok…it's really long, but oh well. Oh, and sorry if there are typos, it's really late and I was getting tired there towards the end.

**Chapter Eight: Nightmares and Old Times**

Brock awoke in the night to the sounds of screaming and shouting from upstairs. He immediately ran up the steps to Reba's bedroom door. When he turned the corner at the top of the stairs, he found Van and Cheyenne outside Reba's door, trying to get inside the room. "What's goin' on?" he shouted.

"We heard Mom screaming but the door's locked! We can't get in and she won't stop screaming!" Cheyenne was frantically trying to turn the door handle while Van repeatedly rammed his shoulder into the door.

"Okay, Van, let me try." Van moved to the side, pulling Cheyenne with him to allow Brock a try of getting the door open. Brock took a couple of steps back, raised his foot in the air and shot it into the door, breaking it down. The three of them ran into the room, but Reba wasn't on the bed. Even in the small amount of light flooding in from the hallway, they could se that Reba's room was completely destroyed. It looked like someone had come in and tried to tear her room apart, inch by inch. Even the dresser was about ready to break into pieces. "Reba?" Brock asked quietly yet urgently. He looked around the room, until he found Reba curled up in the corner, eyes squeezed shut and holding herself tightly.

Brock walked over to Reba, gently, as not to scare her. He reached an arm out to touch her shoulder, simply to get her attention. As soon as his hand made contact with her shoulder, she shouted out, curled up tighter, and more tears ran down her face. "Reba. Reba, look at me. It's okay; it's just me, Brock, and Van and Cheyenne. Please, look at me. Are you okay?" When Brock still got no response, he turned to Van and Cheyenne. "I don't know what's wrong. We gotta get her back up though." Brock looked around the room for a moment, and then continued. "Here," he pointed to the bathroom door. "Go get some cool water in the bathtub and we'll see if we can get her to come to."

Van obeyed quickly, as Brock easily picked Reba up off of the floor, with a little struggle at the beginning before Reba finally allowed it, still never opening her eyes. Cheyenne continued to stand in the doorway, just staring, still shocked by all that had happened.

Brock carried Reba into the bathroom and slowly put her down in the half-filled bathtub. Before she touched the water, Brock looked over to Van. "Van, would you go ahead and go outside with Cheyenne and give Reba and me some time."

"Sure," Van replied, just trying to do whatever was best for Reba at the time.

Brock then set Reba down in the cool water, clothes and all. He didn't want to completely let her go until he knew that she would be okay and not get scared, in case she didn't realize what was going on. Finally, once the water reached her neck, Reba's eyes shot open and she started flailing her arms and legs about, pleading "no" and screaming for help as water splashed about everywhere.

"Reba! Reba!! It's okay! You're okay!" Brock reached in to get her back out quickly, but before he could she just latched onto him, not letting go. He could feel that she was shivering horribly and didn't know if it was from the cool water or from her being so scared, or just some of each.

As Reba cried hysterically on Brock's shoulder, all Brock could do was gently hold her, rock her, and comfort her. "Come on, Reba, it's okay. Now, can you tell me what happened? Please?" Reba slowly backed away from him, wiping the tears from her eyes and then wrapping her arms around herself, more for warmth than comfort. Brock, noticing this, stood up from the side of the tub, offering a hand to help her get out. Reba graciously took it, stepping out of the tub carefully, and then continuing to shiver.

Brock attempted to offer to hold her, in order to keep her warm, but she flinched and wouldn't let him near her again. "No, Brock. I'm sorry; I can't take that right now. Could you just get me a towel and robe and give me a minute?"

Brock flashed a look of sadness across his face, upset that she wouldn't let him comfort her, but understanding her situation. He looked around for a towel, handing her the first one he found, then grabbed her robe from the back of the door, handing her that as well. He gave her a questioning look, as to make sure she'd be ok by herself. She returned a reassuring look, and started drying her neck. Brock almost couldn't make himself leave, for he didn't want her to be alone at a time like this, and as he watched her dry off, he was reminded of all those times he got the pleasure of watching her do that everyday, only without her clothes on.

Brock shook these thoughts from his head almost instantly, feeling ashamed for many reasons. He was married, had a kid with his second wife, and most of all, he felt horrible for thinking of Reba like that at a time like this. He quickly turned and left the bathroom, shutting the door behind him. He then slowly walked over to her bed, sitting down and waiting patiently for her to emerge.

It only took a couple of minutes for Reba to come back out of the bathroom. When she saw Brock, sitting on the edge of her bed waiting for her, she remembered the nights she saw him waiting for her under other circumstances, back when they were happily married. Before her thoughts could travel any further, she walked right past Brock, and headed out of her bedroom towards the stairs. Brock instantly followed.

They ended up in the kitchen, after passing Van and Cheyenne in the living room, as they followed them into the kitchen as well. Reba opened the fridge, grabbed a bottle of water and turned to find everyone staring at her, including Jake and Kyra, who had managed to wonder downstairs, following all of the commotion they'd been hearing for quite some time now. Reba just stared back at everyone, sighed, then walked right past them, going back upstairs to her room. Brock turned to the rest of them, put his hands up as to say "don't worry, I'll take care of it" and headed up after Reba.

Brock went upstairs to find Reba's door shut again. This time, however, it wasn't locked so he knew that she was expecting someone to come it to talk to her. He just hoped that she would settle talking to him, instead of insisting on someone else. He really felt the need to help her and be there for her himself. He turned the doorknob and slowly peeked in her room, finding her sitting at the head of her bed, leaning up against the headboard, staring off into nothingness.

Reba knew it was Brock that entered, but gave no sign to let him know that she was or was not okay with him being there. She just continued to stare off into space, not caring to move at all. Finally, after Brock closed the bedroom door after he entered, Reba spoke. "Why didn't I just take care of all this 25 years ago, when I had the chance? I mean, I'd stabbed the man, why could I've just aimed a little higher on his chest and killed him? How could I be so stupid as to know he would live and most likely find me one day?"

"Reba, you cannot blame yourself for this! You did _nothing_ wrong, whatsoever! There was no way you could've known that he would for sure come back for you." After a long pause of Reba continuing to be a statue and stare into space, he continued. "But, hey, he's gone now, for sure this time. You won't have to worry about him ever again." Another pause, but this time, Reba looked deep into his eyes, as he looked deep into hers. "You won't have to worry about _anything_ ever again." Brock placed a gentle had on Reba's shoulder. "I'll be here for you, at all times, no matter what."

Reba looked into his eyes again and saw something she hadn't seen in many years. Brock's love for Reba was surfacing so obviously that even someone at Elizabeth's age could probably see it. Reba almost became too uncomfortable to stay where she was, but something kept her from moving as she returned his look. When Reba noticed the already small distance between them getting even smaller, she finally spoke up. "Brock…what are we doing? You can't even think anything can happen between us! You're married, you have a new family, and there's _no way_ things could work out between us again. I'm sorry." Reba quickly got off of the bed and walked to the other side of the room, staring out the window.

Brock could see that Reba was hurting, not only from the Bill situation, but because of their situation. Even when he was trying to do everything he could to help, he was still hurting her just by being there. Brock knew that it had always been hell for her to have to see Brock everyday and remember what he did to her and that she could no longer have him. But what Reba didn't know, is that Brock felt the exact same way. He had to look at this beautiful woman everyday, and remember how he'd scorned her, and could no longer be with her. He'd give anything and everything to get her back. He just wished that he could tell her that.

Reba turned back around to face Brock. "Brock, you should go home. Go home to your wife and child. You shouldn't be over here when you have a family to take care of." She did all she could to keep tears from forming in her eyes, for she didn't want Brock to see her weak when it came to him.

"Reba. I am taking care of my family, right here and now." Brock stood and started walking towards Reba. "You _are_ my family, you and Cheyenne, Van, Jake, Kyra, and Elizabeth. Barbra-Jean has never _truly_ needed me, Reba. Henry does, but not Barbra-Jean." Brock then reached up and put a soft hand on her cheek.

"What are you saying?" Reba asked, moving her face away from his hand.

"I'm saying that I want to come back to you. This is where I truly belong and you know it. The kids know it." He stood for a moment and when she didn't reply, added, "And Barbra-Jean knows it. She's always felt so guilty for what she did to you. That's why she's always tried so hard to get your acceptance. It was her way of not having to feel so bad. She always thought that if you and she could get along, that you weren't hurting so bad as to hold a grudge."

"Wait a minute, wait. Are you saying, that all this time, you've never actually _wanted _to be with Barbra-Jean?!"

"Not really, no. It was Henry alone that kept us together. And I do love Henry, I can't leave him. But I can leave Barbra-Jean."

"Brock, I can't ask you to do that. You can't break up your family like you did this one. And even if you did leave Barbra-Jean, what makes you think I would just welcome you back into my home with open arms. If I'm not mistaken, Bill isn't the only one that's hurt me!" Reba started to walk away, but Brock wouldn't let her.

"Reba! Please, don't make it any harder! You know that you want me back just as much as I want to come back."

Reba jerked away from him and replied, "Don't you _dare_ try to tell me what I do and don't want, Brock!"

"Okay, I'm sorry! I'm sorry. But please, hear me out. Why can't things just go back to like they were in the old times, huh?" Brock asked as he moved closer to her again, taking both her hands in his.

"I can't trust you like I once did!" she shouted as she pulled her hands away. "Not after what you did the first time. I don't think you understand how much it's gonna take to earn that trust back, if it's even possible that you can!" Reba turned back away from Brock, staring out the window once more.

"Reba, if there was _any_ way that I could get through to you how much I've tried to do over the past few years to get over what I did to you, but the truth is, I can't get over it either. Look, I understand where you're coming from, but please, give me another chance. I'll do whatever I can to prove to you that you can trust me again, and this time know that the trust is worth it." Reba turned again, tears forming in her eyes once more. Brock once again placed his hand on her cheek, rubbing the tears away as they fell down her face. "I would _never _hurt you again, in _any_ way. Please, Reba."

Reba wasn't sure what to do next. She wanted with all her heart, mind, and soul to believe him, but just couldn't bring herself to. One too many times had the man that scorned her asked for another chance. However, Reba knew for a sure fact that this situation would never end up like it did with Bill. But it still scared her, so much. She didn't know if she would ever be able to make up her mind.

As if he was reading her thoughts, Brock moved in closer to Reba, taking her face in both his hands and laying the gentlest kiss on her lips. She continued to cry, but in delight mixed with the sadness that remained. After a very short moment, Reba kissed him back. Another moment passed and before Reba could control herself, she was allowing herself to be backed against the wall as their kiss became more passionate.

Before Reba let herself get any more carried away than she was she stopped them where they were. "Brock…Brock we can't. I can't, not like this. Not until it's right." She could tell that Brock didn't want to stop now. "Please Brock."

Brock knew better than to push her, he would never do that, especially so close to everything that had happened. He loved her and would do anything she ever asked of him, and he knew that she knew that as well. "Okay," he said, letting her go and moving away. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have pushed you even this far."

"Brock…you didn't. It was me just as much as it was you." Reba moved past him, returning to the bed, and sat on the edge, thinking.

"Reba?" he asked. She looked up to him in response. "You never told me what happened tonight. Why your door was locked and what happened in here." Brock moved over and knelt down in front of her, setting his hand upon hers.

"I just had a nightmare." Brock waiting a moment for her to give more detail but she never did.

"What happened?" he encouraged.

It took a moment before Reba could reply, but finally did. "It was Bill." Again, she stopped, not going any further. Brock raised his brow, urging her to continue. "He wasn't dead. Even though you shot him, he wasn't dead. And he came back for us. He…" Reba began to become almost hysterical as she continued, "He killed everyone, except for me. Even little Elizabeth and Henry! It was so horrible!! He made me watch every one of you die one by one! And then…he turned to me, and…he started beating me. I was trying so hard to get away but I couldn't. And he wouldn't stop, and it hurt so much and no one was there to help me! And…" From there she went into hysterics. Not able to keep steady anymore, she almost fell to the floor if it weren't for Brock. As she started to lean forwards, he wrapped his arms around her, moving up to the bed with her and rocking her gently while holding her with such care.

"Oh, Reba, it's okay. You know that that can't happen and it won't. Nothing like that will ever happen to you again. The only way this can get to you is in your dreams. And that's all they are, are dreams." Reba couldn't sit up any longer, and Brock, sensing this, lay her down on the bed, laying with her, continuing just to hold her and make her feel safe as she cried into his chest. He would lay there however long it took.

After about thirty minutes, Reba had drifted off to sleep. Brock managed to sneak away from her, heading downstairs to where the kids were still waiting up for him. Well, most of them. Cheyenne and Jake managed to fall asleep on the couch while Van and Kyra were keeping Elizabeth from making too much noise.

As soon as Van and Kyra noticed Brock coming down the stairs, they rushed over to him, waiting for some kind of news. "She's ok. She just had a nightmare, we've had a good, long talk, and it's going to be okay. She just needs some time to recover. This has been pretty hard on her. More than we can imagine." Van and Kyra nodded, knowing that lying ahead of them was a long road to happiness. But, they knew that it would still be okay. Reba was always the strongest person they'd known and they knew there was no way she'd let this get her that bad for too long.

With this confidence in their hearts, they woke up the other members of the family, and headed back upstairs to their own rooms to try and sleep for what was left of the night. Brock on the other hand, knew what he had to do.

Brock headed back up to Reba's room and entered. As he opened the door, the sound awoke Reba as she jerked up quickly and gasped loudly at the unexpected sound. "It's just me, Reba. I just went down to send the kids back to bed." Brock went over to her and sat next to her.

"Brock," she said, grabbing his hand, "you have to go home. I'll be fine here, just go home to your wife and child. You've been here long enough. I know I asked you to stay here for the night, but please, I can't take knowing that I'm keeping you from your family." Brock was about to protest when Reba continued. "I'm okay. I promise. You guys can come over first thing in the morning if you want to, but for now, go home, Brock. I know that you're only a phone call away if something goes wrong. I'll be fine, don't worry. Your family needs you now."

Brock saw how serious Reba was, and knew that he was and Barbra-Jean needed to talk. Sooner better than later, he supposed. Still, he was hesitant to leave Reba alone the first night after the excitement. Once again, he looked up to her face to say something, but immediately saw the look in her eyes and thought otherwise. He knew she was right, one way or the other. He needed to go home, for now. He felt confident that someone would call if needed.

"Okay, only if you're sure though. I have absolutely no problem with staying here until morning and then going on home."

"I'm sure, Brock. I'll see you tomorrow, okay?"

"Okay. Good night, Reba." Before he got up to leave, he placed another kiss, this time on Reba's cheek. She melted into it, which made Brock want to stay even more. But knew that there was no way he and Reba could be together again until he discussed everything with Barbra-Jean. So, with that, Brock got up and headed out. Arriving at home, to find his wife curled up on the couch waiting for him. He figured, with all the discussions to come, it was best to let her rest for now. He went up to check on Henry first, before returning back to the living room, and sitting in the chair, putting his feet up on the ottoman, and falling asleep himself.

As Brock left, Reba knew it was for the best, even though she realized that both she and Brock wanted him to stay desperately. She knew there was no way either of them would be able to go through with anything knowing that he belonged at home with Barbra-Jean and their child. Before Reba allowed herself to think about it too long, knowing that it would never be a possibility, forced herself to lie back down and drift of to sleep.

What Reba didn't know, is that Brock was more than serious when he was talking about leaving Barbra-Jean. Reba had forced her hopeful thoughts away, thinking it would never happen, but Brock was doing just the opposite.


End file.
